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Book Reviews of The Night Swimmers

The Night Swimmers
The Night Swimmers
Author: Betsy Byars
ISBN-13: 9780440967668
ISBN-10: 044096766X
Publication Date: 1980
Pages: 125
Edition: Reissue
Reading Level: Young Adult
Rating:
  • Currently 2.5/5 Stars.
 1

2.5 stars, based on 1 rating
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

2 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

annalovesbooks avatar reviewed The Night Swimmers on
Helpful Score: 4
Betsy Byars always manages to make a story more interesting than I expect, and Night Swimmers - winner of the American Book Award - does it again.

Retta, Johnny and Roy are the new kids in town. Their mother is dead and their father, a has-been country singer, is almost irrelevant as a parent, usually choosing to ignore a problem until it goes away. Retta has stepped in as the primary parent to her brothers, a role that she clings to desperately. Deciding to broaden their horizons, Retta searches for experiences outside their own limited world and finds a pool in the neighborhood where she takes the boys swimming at night. When Johnny makes a new friend and begins to do things without his siblings, Retta feels that her position is threatened and that she's failing as a parent.

Shorty, their father, had one hit in his musical career - a song about the death of his wife. Since then, he struggles to support his family by performing locally. Beyond the very basics of a roof over their heads, clothes on their backs and food on the table, Shorty doesn't seem to know what to do for these people who are his children. When tragedy brushes up against his youngest son, Shorty is brought into sharper focus: his once glittering appearance is shabby and worn. His parenting skills are highlighted in his words - none.

Roy's certainty that the Bowlwater Plant is a magical Jack-and-the-Beanstalk type of plant is, in the end, the perfect symbol of the entire story. The suddenly arrived at conclusion that it is, indeed, just a factory, is sad but important for Roy. The entire family needs to get back to reality before the whole loose bundle that is their lives falls apart.

- AnnaLovesBooks
angelwolf avatar reviewed The Night Swimmers on + 74 more book reviews
My daughter this is a fantastic abook and found it very interesting.